ScAm - 09.2019

ADVANCES

18 Scientific American, September 2019

JODY BANKS

Purdue University

BOTANY

Arsenic-

Eating Fern

The plant’s genes hint at ways

to clean up soil and water

Arsenic-contaminated groundwater
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ä ̧­xš ̧ÿžî̧³îž³øxäî ̧îšßžþxÍ5šx ­xšD³žä­Uxšž³läî ̧§xßD³xšDä § ̧³Uxx³DUž ̧šx­žD§Çøąą§xÍ Now plant researchers Jody Banks D³lšD ̧DžjU ̧îšDî0øßløx7³žþxßäžîāj D³lîšxžß ̧§§xDøxäšDþxxĀǧDž³xl
š ̧ÿžîšDÇÇx³äÍ
āäǧžž³îšx…xß³Üä genes into other plants, Banks says, Už ̧x³ž³xxßä­žšî ̧³xlDāšDß³xää žîäDUž§žîžxäî ̧šx§Ç§xD³øÇ` ̧³îD­ž
nated areas.

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track the proteins these genes encode in
the species, reconstructing how the pro-

teins work together to collect and neu-

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phate in this process, blocking energy

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žîî ̧`šx­ž`D§§āUž³lDßäx³DîxÍ³ ̧îšxß

protein called OCT4, encoded by one

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Dßäx³Dîxž³î ̧D… ̧ß­`D§§xlDßäx³žîxÍ5šx

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lished in May in Current Biology.

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son in an arsenic-tolerant bacterial species,

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, that used nearly

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îšDîDßäx³Dîxžäî ̧Āž`ÍÚ Rachel Berkowitz

PUBLIC HEALTH

Mapping HIV

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to patients is a challenge. Now researchers

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The study could help authorities better tar-

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ple on the ground who are in one particu-

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author Laura Dwyer-Lindgren, an assistant

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Dwyer-Lindgren and her colleagues

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seeking prenatal care. They used these

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to 28 percent in its North-East district in

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Pteris vittata, a species of brake fern